Gifted
is a compilation of fifteen life stories of people with
disabilities, who with their courage, exemplary conviction and an
indomitable spirit made their lives worth emulating. While working for
the India Inclusion Summit, 2013, one of the authors, VR Ferose came
in contact with several such people who had reached the heights of
success, despite getting an unfair treatment from life. He observed
that each one of them possessed traits he had studied in leaders or
pioneers in different domains and wanted to tell the stories of these
unsung heroes who are constantly competing and bettering their records
on the track of life. These valiant individuals, their struggles,
their supportive families, their stories can surely guide us on life,
correct our course and give us the right perspective. This is the
objective of the book, which it fulfills quite compellingly.

Other objectives of the
stories are sensitisation and awareness. There are two extremes when
we deal with a specially-abled person, either we fumble for words not
knowing what to say, focusing only on the disability, ignoring the
identity of the person or we are rude and insensitive, saying cruel
things, belittling their potential. It is seldom that we behave with
them as with another normal human being. These stories tell us that
living with a certain disability can somehow be learnt and adjusted
to; however, what pinches the most, even more than the physical pain,
is the insensitivity, underestimation and lack of faith by their
able-bodied fellowmen.

The book is as much
about the tenacity of the family members, often of the mothers or the
wife, sister, or father who gave up their personal lives but refused
to give up their relentless efforts to make life of their loved one
better. In one case, it is a friend, a pillar of strength. The stories
are also a narration of how families smilingly supported the person,
many a time bearing the brunt of injustice meted out to one. This
compassion warms the heart and makes you believe in the goodness of
humans.

There is a lot of
diversity in the stories found in the book. People from different
social strata, rich and poor, urban and rural, male and female, old
and young, people who had a congenital disability or whom disability
struck later in life, privileged and under privileged have been
portrayed sensitively. The vocations that they pursue are mindboggling;
we have a journalist, wild life conservationist, musicians,
sportspersons, IT professionals, standup comedian, oncologists, and
who not. There is not too much harping on the suffering or pain, all
this is subtly mentioned. Instead the emphasis is on optimism, beauty,
cheerfulness and celebration of the fighting spirit. It is really
astonishing that for many of these people, their disability became a
window to the pain of others and alleviation of that pain and
suffering then became the goal of their lives.

Malathi Holla, on her
own, is nurturing 20 kids with disabilities, Javed Abidi is working on
inclusion policies, helping draft the disability bill, Mohammad Sharif
is teaching music to underprivileged children. For each one of them,
being physically disabled means being more empathetic, kind,
resource-sharing, helpful, sensitive and this is the common thread
that runs through all the stories.

Though, after reading
some of the stories, the layout starts appearing familiar and
monotonous, having the same trajectory and turn of phases. Style and
approach becomes repetitive and there are a few printing errors as
well. However, these can be overlooked for the reader-friendly format
and simple language that makes the book accessible to all.